Founded in 1884, Anderson began as a train depot along the newly built Grand Trunk Western Railroad route. A community grew around it, and at its peak Anderson had a post office, cheese factory, and farmers store that sold dry goods, groceries, and hardware. As automobiles began to replace passenger train travel in the early twentieth century, small railroad towns like Anderson were affected by the lack of business traffic. On October 31, 1913, the local post office closed, and by the 1940s all that remained were a few houses.